Hello, dear one!
As we celebrate love on Valentine’s day, how much do we honor ourselves? While facing a tough decision, do you ask yourself:
What would someone who loves himself or herself do?
I grew up in tyrannical communist China, and SELF is expressed through submitting to authorities and following the crowd.
Self-love has been an arduous long journey, and stories like this one have profoundly impacted my major decisions.
It was in 1974 in New York City. This young man, a struggling actor found himself broke, divorced, and discouraged.
His best friend was his bulldog, but he couldn’t afford to feed him. He eventually sold his dog to a stranger at a corner liquor store for $25. When he walked away, he cried like a baby.
Sometime later, a friend invited him to a boxing match.
During the show, he became inspired by a nobody boxer who went the distance with the great Muhammad Ali. He rushed home and wrote a screenplay in three days.
Down to his last $106, he submitted his screenplay to his agent.
A studio offered him $20,000, but they wanted Ryan O’Neal or Burt Reynolds to play the lead role. He desperately needed money, but he wanted to play the lead role and turned it down.
Then the studio raised the offer to $80, 000, on the condition that he wouldn’t play the lead. He turned it down again.
Hollywood Prince Robert Redford read the screenplay. He was inspired to play the role himself and offered him $200,000; he turned it down. Redford maximized his offer to $330,000. He still insisted, “I want to play the lead role!”
They finally agreed to let him play the lead role and paid him $20,000, which was the original offer for the script, plus $340 per week as the minimum actor’s wage.
As soon as he got his first paycheck, he went back to the liquor store, hoping to buy his dog back.
He waited at the liquor store for three days, and on the third day, he saw the guy who bought his bulldog. He explained to the guy why he sold the dog and begged for the dog back.
The man refused. He then offered him $500. The man still refused. He upped the offer at $1,000 and still got a NO.
Believe it or not, he ended up paying $15,000 for the same dog he sold for $25. But he had the dog back.
As for the movie, he was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor in 1976. The movie won 3 Oscars.
Now, can you guess which movie it was? It was Rocky!
![](https://i0.wp.com/colonelrae.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Rocky.jpg?resize=601%2C450&ssl=1)
And, the actor was Sylvester Stallone, nicknamed Sly.
I read this story 20 years ago when I was unsure of myself, looking for all external factors to fill in my insecure gap.
I was inspired by how Sly loved himself unconditionally and lived life fearlessly. I worshiped God in the church in the morning and slipped back to easy settlement in the evening.
Sly’s courage to stick to his gun raised my self-love consciousness, and now I tell his story to uplift others in need.
Early last year, my tenant reached out to me because he had a dilemma. His company mandated him to take the Covid shots which he was not comfortable with. Declining meant losing his only source of income.
I told him the story of Sly sticking to himself and asked him: What would someone who loves himself do?
Whatever was presented in front of him was a blessing disguised in pain and a light from a different perspective.
Circumstances don’t define us, but they reveal to us who we are.
My tenant was always on two journeys simultaneously, the physical journey and the spiritual journey. The spiritual journey always supersedes the physical one.
It would be easier physically to take the shot and keep the job, but the spiritual cost of his self-respect and integrity could be far greater than his paychecks.
In the end, he decided to relocate to another state. When he handed over the keys to me, he glowed with a light heart: Be me since everyone else is taken.
I have been a student of Jesus’ teaching, and my journey of self-actualization and observance of others’ choices have deepened my understanding of entering the narrow gate:
![](https://i0.wp.com/colonelrae.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/37-NarrowGate-FB-3639434675.jpg?resize=660%2C250&ssl=1)
If I want to go nowhere, follow the crowd.
But if I want to go somewhere, stick to myself.
Live life fearlessly and love me unconditionally.
Be YOU because everyone else has been taken. Happy SELF-LOVE day!
For more inspiration and reflection, check out my videos on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raejeanwong/